I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty bad about keeping a pair of sunglasses for longer than a few weeks.

Either one of the twins decides to “try them on,” which, of course, is code for “break them.” Or I drop them one too many times while trying to juggle toddlers + baby + stroller + bag + keys, etc. etc. Or I set them down in a store to look at something and then get distracted by some sentence or other than starts with the Four Letter Word, “Mama”…and walk off and leave them there.

Whatever their demise, I have long since learned to buy cheap (CHEAP) sunglasses. Of course, you might argue that if I bought pricier shades that I would then be compelled to take better care of them, but at least 1/2 of the reasons that they bite the dust are fairly out of my control, so I’m gonna stick with buying $5 shades from Ross every other month or so, thankyouverymuch.

Of course, no matter how fancy or humble (yes, humble, always) the origins of my glasses, they don’t do a smidge of good if a) I can’t find them (thank you, baby brain) or b) they’re so out of sight that I don’t remember to grab them on my way out the door.

Enter: this brilliant idea from my friend, Lindsay.

sunglasses

She has this cute little rack + hooks hanging RIGHT next to her front door, but instead of the usual stuff like keys or wristlets hanging from it, she has her sunglasses. I mean, you could add the other stuff as well, but I was just so struck by the ingenious simplicity of this little organizational tip that I had to share.

Because even scatterbrained, distracted mamas might at least have a chance of remembering to take their glasses off and hang them just as they came in the door. And especially scatterbrained, distracted mamas would have the best chance they’re ever going to get of remembering to actually grab their sunglasses for the road when they leave.

So simple. So helpful. And cute to boot!

Just the way we like it with #mamalifehacks.

What about you guys? Do you buy pricey shades or stick with the cheap-o, easily replaceable variety? I bought my husband a pair of Ray Bans for Christmas, and, while I am the one who scored a REALLY great deal, I can’t really claim any credit for the fact that they haven’t been lost yet, seeing as how I only wear them when he’s out of town, and I filch them on the sly. (And then, I’m anal about returning them to their rightful owner…so maybe THAT’S the secret to forcing myself to keep up with them!).

Do you lose/break yours often? I try not to make it a habit of buying the same item over and over on any kind of regular basis when I could just keep up with the one I have. But sunglasses are my Kryptonite.

Any easy/clever organizational tips to share this week? You can share here or tag them, along with any other #mamalifehacks you have on social media. Who knows? I just might feature YOU!

6 Comments

  1. I love that bird rack! We have a similar one for keys by our door, and I have actually hung our glasses there too before.

    I used to buy cheap sunglasses and perpetually lost them (either in fact or simply because my kids broke them). Over a year ago, though, my husband splurged and bought me a really nice pair with the caveat that I had to take care of them. And amazingly, I still have them today! Knock on wood, but hopefully I will be able to keep up the trend.

  2. I recently had a Mama Life Hack moment and literally thought of you and this blog! Enter The Jammies Basket on Top of the Dresser. Our youngest son still sleeps in our room, but his clothes are kept in big brother’s room and he is prepared for bed after brother is already asleep…and getting jammies out of the squeaky drawer wasn’t working out so well, as you could imagine! In my perfect world, we’d remember to get his jammies out when putting our other son in bed, but the amount of times I have my wits about me during bedtime is rare (and somehow we occasionally don’t have piles of laundry full of jammies laying around the living room). Last time I was putting away laundry, I simple tossed the babies jammies into a separate little basket (an adorable mini laundry basket I’d been wanting a fitter purpose for) and put it on the (miraculously clean) dresser top. Magical bedtime bliss in five minutes! After weeks of waking up the big brother…

  3. I used to only wear cheapo sunglasses. My husband only wears designer sunglasses. He really wanted me to have a nice pair and now I have several. But, the best sunglasses decision i ever made was to buy prescription sunglasses. I’ve worn glasses for years. I finally bit the bullet a couple years back and bought prescription sunglasses…best decision ever!

  4. I literally just gasped. Genius!!! I wear sunglasses year round, and am always losing them. 🙂 I am the same. I buy $5 sunglasses from Walmart. I have at least 3 pair, but only know where one pair is. I have started leaving them directly by the front door, so I can’t misplace them… Haven’t broken a pair myself (if they stay out of children’s reach), but I am always losing them.

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